Sora's New Life
by TheBlackWolf892
Summary: Sora, a 20 year old Lion has arrived in The Valley of Peace, he befriends Po and The Furious Five and joins them on their adventures. But soon Sora's past comes back to haunt him.
1. Chapter 1: Sora

**Chapter 1: Sora**

It was peaceful that night in The Valley of Peace, Parents were putting their kids to sleep, people were saying goodnight to each other, and the stars and the full moon lit up the night sky. It was truly a beautiful site for Sora who was looking over The Valley, Sora was a Lion, he had a short dark brown mane, light brown fur, he had amber eyes, a small scar going across his left cheek and he was wearing a black vest with white trims and a pair of black silk pants.

"Wow….this place is beautiful." He said staring over the town

Sora stared at The Valley for a few more minutes then he made his way down towards it. Meanwhile at The Jade Palace the sound of a painful scream filled the palace.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Po yelled as Mantis stuck a needle into his shoulder

"This is your own fault Po; you shouldn't have tried to ride down the steps in a wok." Said Mantis sticking a needle into the Giant Panda's lower back

"OW!"

"Man up you big baby."

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one getting stuck with needles." Mantis stuck another needle into Po's shoulder "OW! You did that on purpose."

Meanwhile Sora was walking through the village when he smelt something good cooking; he turned to his right and saw a restaurant. He looked up at the sign it said "Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu" Sora's stomach growled, he hadn't eaten in days. He went into the shop; there wasn't anyone there, not surprising since it was late at night. The only one there was an old goose cooking up some noodles in the kitchen, Sora walked over to the window; the old goose saw Sora and smiled.

"Welcome to Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu, may I take your order?" Asked the goose

"One bowl of noodles please." Replied Sora

"Coming right up, you can have table 2 over there." Sora bowed "Thank you." He sat at the table and patiently waited for his noodles. A few minutes later the goose came out with a fresh bowl of noodles "Here you go." "Thanks, Oh I didn't get your name." "I'm Mr. Ping." "I'm Sora, pleased to meet you." Mr. Ping smiled at Sora and waddled off back into the kitchen.

As Sora ate his noodles a group of boars came into the shop, Mr. Ping saw them and went over to the window.

"Welcome to Dragon Warrior Noodles and Tofu, may I take your-" He cut off by a boar grabbing his neck, he pulled him through the window, Sora saw this and set his chopsticks down.

"Gives us all of your money old man." Said the Boar Boss

"Put him down!" Demanded Sora

"Or what?"

"Why don't you come over here and find out!" Sora said as he took a fighting stance. The Boar Boss just laughed and turned to his comrades "Kill him." Boar number 1 charged Sora but Sora jumped kicked Boar number 1 into a table knocking him out. Boar number 2 charged Sora and attempted to punch him but Sora dodged the punch, then he grabbed his arm and threw Boar number 2 into the wall. Then Boar number 3 ran at him and delivered numerous punches but Sora dodged them all and he kicked Boar number 3 in the arm breaking it, Boar number 3 yelled with pain and dropped to his knees. The Boar Boss dropped Mr. Ping and pulled out a large war hammer.

"You're good kid, but now let's see how you do against me."

The Boar Boss charged at Sora and swung his hammer at the lion but he jumped back and jumped kicked the Boar Boss in the snout. The Boar Boss stumbled back but he recovered quickly and charged Sora again and Sora charged at him. Sora roundhouse kicked the Boar Boss in the face but the Boar Boss slammed his war hammer into the lion's ribs. Sora's kick sent the Boar Boss flying into the wall, he got up and he and his comrades ran off in terror. Mr. Ping came out of hiding and waddled over to Sora.

"Thank you for your help." Said Mr. Ping, Sora didn't answer, Mr. Ping had a concerned look on his face "Are you alright?" Sora then coughed up blood, clenched his ribs then he passed out.

Mr. Ping stood there in shock, and then he ran up to The Jade Palace as fast as he could to go and get help, when he arrived he was greeted by Master Shifu.

"Ah, hello Mr. Ping what brings you here?" asked the aged red panda

"I need help! Some boars came into my shop and tried to rob me! But this lion named Sora beat them up but he's hurt badly!" As soon as he finished Shifu had disappeared then he reappeared seconds later, he ran into barracks and woke up his students up.

"Shifu what's going on?" Asked Po

"There's an injured lion at your dad's restaurant, Po, Tigress, you two will come with me and bring him here, Crane, go and find a healer immediately!"

"Yes Master Shifu!" replied Crane, then he left the palace and flew off to find a healer, meanwhile Po, Tigress and Shifu went down to the shop where Sora was, when they arrived Sora was still unconscious. They carried him up to the palace and put him in the spare bedroom. They waited a long time for Crane to come back, after half and hour he came back with a healer. The Healer went into the room to examine him; they waited for 20 minutes before The Healer finally came out of the room.

"How is he?" Asked Po

"He'll be ok, his ribs are broken so he'll need to rest for a few days." Replied the Healer, then he left. Po took a peak in the room and looked at the unconscious lion and wondered who he was and where he came from.


	2. Chapter 2: The Beginning of a new life

**Chapter 2: The Beginning of a new life**

The Next morning the gong rang and The Furious Five instantly came out of their rooms.

"Good morning Master." They said in unison, Shifu noticed that Po hadn't come out of his room.

"Po wake up!" Said Shifu, he heard something hard hit the floor followed by a groan then The Dragon Warrior emerged from his room.

"After breakfast I need some volunteers to watch our guest in there." Shifu gestured to the spare bedroom where Sora was sleeping.

"I'll do it." Said Po

"I'll do it too, he might need some acupuncture." Replied Mantis

"Then it's settled, Po and Mantis you'll be responsible for our guest until he recovers." With the warriors went to the kitchen, had their breakfast then Shifu, Tigress, Viper, Crane and Monkey proceeded to the Training Hall while Po and Mantis went to check on Sora. Sora was still asleep when they went inside; they sat at his bedside and waited for him to wake up.

"So Po, why did you volunteer?" asked Mantis

"Well, this guy saved my dad and I wanted to thank, who knows what would've if he wasn't there."

"I see." Just then Sora's eyes opened and he saw the two masters staring at him.

"What the?" Sora said as he shot up from his bed but immediately clenched his ribs and hissed with pain.

"Take it easy, you had a rough night." Said Po

"What happened? I remember fighting some Boars and then everything went dark."

"According to my dad, you got hit in the ribs with The Boar Boss' war hammer."

"That's right!"

"You saved my dad back there, thanks."

"Really? Who's your dad?"

"Mr. Ping." Sora looked at Po in confusion

"The goose?" asked Sora

"Uh huh."

"But he's a goose and you're panda."

"I was adopted."

"That makes more sense."

Sora looked around "Where am I?"

"The Jade Palace." Said Mantis

"Wait…._The _Jade Palace, the home of The Furious Five and The Dragon Warrior?"

"Yep, this is Master Mantis of The Furious Five and I'm Po the Dragon Warrior."

"Wait you're Dragon Warrior?"

"He is, we all had a hard time believing it too." Replied Mantis

"So anyway, would you like something to eat?" asked Po, Sora nodded then Po went to the kitchen to make a bowl of noodles. A few minutes later Po came back with a bowl of noodles and handed it to Sora, Sora consumed the contents of the bowl right away.

"Wow, you must've been hungry." Said Po

"Yeah, those boars showed up before I could finish my noodles yesterday."

"What's your name anyway?" asked Mantis

"Sora."

"Well it's nice to meet you Sora." Said Po, Sora smiled "Likewise."

Sora tried to get up again but Po stopped him "What're doing?" asked Po "Well I don't wanna get in the way of training so I'm leaving." "Oh no you don't you're staying here until you're fully healed or else I'll stick one of my acupuncture needle in your spine paralyzing you." "That seems a little extreme." "Then do what we say." Sora sighed "Fine." Then laid back on his bed and Po and Mantis went to the Training Hall.

When they arrived they saw Tigress sparring with Viper and Crane was sparring with Monkey on The Jade Tortoise. Shifu saw them and walked over to them.

"So, how's our guest?" asked Shifu

"He's awake now." Replied Po

"That's good to hear, now proceed with your training." Po and Mantis bowed and trained with the others.

Later that night it was time for dinner, Po cooked up some noodles, bean buns, dumplings and some tofu. They all sat at the table, ate their food and talked.

(**Sora's P.O.V) **

Sora lied there in his bed, he decided to explore the palace, it took a lot of effort but he was able to get out of bed, he put on his vest and wondered around the palace. He found himself in The Sacred Hall of Warriors, he looked at each weapon, painting and artefact.

"Incredible aren't they?" said a voice behind, Sora turned around and saw a red panda standing by the entrance.

"I've only heard stories about most of these things, I never thought I'd actually see them." Said Sora looking around

Shifu walked over to the lion "What's your name?" asked Shifu

"Sora, and if I'm not mistaken you're the legendary Grandmaster Shifu." Shifu nodded "Where are you from Sora?"

"Well when I was a kid I lived on a farm miles from here with my parents and my brother, but for the past 14 years I've been travelling from town to town."

"On your own?" asked Shifu

"Yeah."

"What about your family?" Sora didn't answer, then his stomach growled

"I see your hungry, come, it's dinner time we'll get you something to eat."

"I'd like that."

Shifu led Sora to the kitchen, when they arrived Po and The Furious Five were eating, they all stared at Sora which made him feel uneasy.

"Everyone, this is Sora, he's going to be staying with us for a while." Said Shifu

"Nice to meet you Sora, I'm Monkey."

"I'm Crane."

"I'm Viper, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"My name is Tigress."

Sora bowed to the masters then he and Shifu helped themselves to some noodle soup and sat at the table. There was a lot talk amongst the group, Mantis, Monkey and Crane decided to hit the hay, Po, Viper, Tigress and Shifu decided to get to know Sora a little bit more. He talked about his experiences during his travels he got along very well with the others but he never answered any questions about his family, or why he lived on his own for 14 years this made Tigress a little bit suspicious. Finally everyone decided to go to bed, when Tigress stopped Shifu.

"Master may I speak to you for a moment?" asked Tigress

"Sure."

"I don't trust this guy."

"What? Why?"

"Think about, he shows up to The Valley out of nowhere and he doesn't talk about his past."

"Tigress, he doesn't have to talk about his past if he doesn't want to, what happened in his past is none of our business."

"Your right, forgive me Master."

"Don't be so quick to judge Tigress, I'm sure he'll talk about his past when he feels ready, remember he's only been here a day." Shifu left the kitchen leaving Tigress alone, she thought about Shifu's words for moment and realised he was right she then left the kitchen and went to her room and went to bed.


	3. Chapter 3: The Festival

**Chapter 3: The Festival **

A week has past since Sora arrived at The Valley of Peace, he has really bonded with Po and the others, Tigress had her doubts though, Sora's wounds had healed and it was time for him to leave which saddened everyone. The Morning gong rang and Po and The Furious Five immediately came out of their rooms.

"Good morning Master." They said in unison

"Good morning Students and well done Po on getting up on time."

As the others made their way to the kitchen, Po went over to Sora's room to say his goodbyes. But discovered to his horror that he wasn't there.

"He couldn't have left already." He thought to himself

He searched the entire palace but he couldn't find him, then he ran to kitchen.

"Guys! Have you seen Sora?" asked Po

"He's in his room isn't he?" asked Tigress

"No! I searched the entire palace, I can't find him anywhere."

"I heard him leaving his room late last night." Said Monkey

"Then that means he left." Said Crane

"Without saying goodbye?" asked Po, Shifu then entered the kitchen and noticed the sad expression on Po's face.

"Is something troubling you Dragon Warrior?" asked Shifu

"Sora left."

"No he didn't." said Shifu

"What?"

"He's in The Training Hall." Po ran out of the kitchen, out of the palace and into the training hall, when he got inside he saw Sora practising on the adversary. He stopped once he saw Po.

"Hey Po."

"Dude! I thought you left without saying goodbye."

"What? I wouldn't do that."

"So what're you doing you here?" asked Po

"I couldn't sleep so I came here." Sora went back to attacking the adversary, Po was impressed by his moves.

"Some nice moves you got there, wanna spar?" Sora stopped punching the adversary and looked at Po, then he smirked.

"Alright, we'll fight in The Arena." **(A/N: The place where Po was chosen as the Dragon Warrior) **

Po and Sora went to the arena, they bowed and took fighting stances, Sora charged Po and delivered a few punches but Po blocked them all, Po attempted to roundhouse kick Sora in the jaw but Sora back flipped away, then he charged Po again, the panda and the lion were locked in combat, matching each other blow for blow. Shifu and The Five came out of the palace and saw the two warriors brawling.

Sora punched Po in nose causing him to stumble back, and then Sora kicked Po in the chest knocking him down. Po got his feet and charged Sora, he delivered numerous punches but Sora dodged them all. Po then used belly to send Sora flying and crashing into the wall. Po walked over to his friend and helped him up.

"Looks like I lost." Said Sora

"Yeah but you were AWSOME!" replied Po

"I agree." Said a voice behind them, they looked and saw Shifu and The Furious Five looking at them.

"You're talented Sora, where did you learn to fight like that?" asked Shifu

"My father knew kung fu and he taught some of it to me and my brother."

"I see."

"So when're you leaving?" asked Mantis

"Errrr…..After breakfast I guess."

"What?" they all asked in unison

"You can't leave right after breakfast you'll miss The Festival." Said Viper

"What festival?"

"Tomorrow is the anniversary of when Po defeated Tai Lung, the village celebrates it by holding a festival." Said Tigress

"Yeah you should totally stay for the festival." Said Po

"I don't know…."

"Come on man, there'll games, food, a play and dancing."

"Oh alright I'll stay for the festival." Po and others minus Shifu and Tigress cheered.

Later that night everyone got ready for the festival, they made their way down to the village. There were lanterns lit up, numerous stands selling all sorts of things and people running around. Viper and Crane decided to go shopping, Monkey and Mantis went to the nearest food stand and Sora decided to leave Po and Tigress alone.

"So Tigress, do you wanna hang out?" asked Po

"Alright." Replied Tigress

**(With Sora) **

Sora tried his luck at some of the games, he won tons of plush toys, and he decided to hand them out to a group of children. He then went to a few food stands, then half an hour later he met up with the others and they watched the play of Po defeating Tai Lung. Then the dancing began the only one who wasn't dancing was Tigress, Po walked over to her.

"Tigress why aren't you dancing?" asked Po

"I don't dance."

"Come on, it won't kill ya."

"No!"

"Why not?" Tigress' ears drop and she looked away from Po

"I've never danced before." Po took her paw, even though her paws were numb from all those years of punching the iron wood trees she could still the warm softness of his paw.

"Come on." He said, he led Tigress out of town and into the forest to be alone.

"Po what're we doing here?" asked Tigress

"We're gunna dance, there's nobody else here, so you've got nothing to be worried about."

"O-Ok."

They began dancing, Tigress was enjoying it. They danced for 5 minutes until Po tripped on a rock and fell back carrying Tigress with him, Tigress fell on top of him and her lips crashed onto his. Tigress climbed off him and backed away.

"Po I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to-" Tigress ran off back to the palace leaving Po alone. He went back to the festival where the others were.

"Hey Po where's Tigress?" asked Viper

"She went back to the palace." Replied Po, Sora then came over to them.

"Hey guys, it's time for me to go." Said Sora

"Do you really have to go? I'm sure if we talked to Shifu he'd let you stay." Said Monkey

"No, I don't want to get in the way of your training."

"So I guess this is goodbye." Said Po

"Yeah." Replied Sora, then he felt a tear going down his cheek, he quickly rubbed it away.

"Sorry, don't know where it came from." Said Sora, before he could walk away he was stopped by Shifu who popped out of nowhere.

"Sora, I have a little offer for you." Said Shifu

"What is it?"

"How would you like to become a student at The Jade Palace?" asked Shifu

"What?"

"You have talent, and we could use your skills in defending The Valley, if you want to that is."

"Are you kidding? I'd love to." Said Sora

"Woohoo!" said Po

"Come on let's celebrate." Said Mantis

The Warriors made their way up to The Jade Palace to celebrate with the newest member of their family.


	4. Chapter 4: Sora's Past

**Chapter 4: Sora's Past **

As the weeks past Sora became stronger through his training at the Jade Palace, he and Po became best friends and because of this Po has been training harder than ever before so he doesn't fall behind, the same goes for the others. Tigress however has been avoiding Po ever since the festival. The morning gong rang and everyone came out of their rooms.

"Good morning Master." They said in unison

"Good morning students, today we'll be resuming our usual training schedule." Said Shifu

Everyone proceeded to the kitchen; Po began making breakfast as everyone sat down. He placed noodle soup in front of everyone except Tigress who was having tofu; Po noticed that Sora looked a bit depressed.

"Sora, you alright buddy?" asked Po

"Yeah it's just that…..I'm thinking about my parents." He said in shaky voice

"Your parents?"

"Yeah, today would've been my mom's birthday."

"Would've been?" asked Crane, Sora didn't answer.

"Sora if there's something wrong, you can tell us." Said Viper, Sora sighed "Alright I'll tell you, I owe you guys that much, but I gotta warn you this isn't the happiest of memories." Everyone leaned in closer to here Sora's tale.

"It all started 14 years ago."

**(Flashback)**

"_Sora, honey wake up it's time for school." Said a female's voice_

_The six year old Sora woke up and rubbed eyes, He got out of bed, and went downstairs. He saw a middle aged lion with a thick dark brown mane, brown eyes and light brown fur; he was wearing pair of black pants, it was his father. Opposite him was a teenage lion, he had a small dark brown mane, he had brown eyes, light brown fur and he was wearing a white vest with black trims and a pair of black silk pants, it was his older brother. Finally there was a lioness chopping vegetables, she had yellow fur, amber eyes and she was wearing a blue dress, it was his mother. Sora sat down at the table and his mother placed a bowl of dumplings in front of him. _

"_Thanks Mom." Said Sora, his mother smiled and ruffled the fur on the top of her son's head. Sora's brother rolled his and looked away in disgust. _

"_Hey Dad check out this painting I made." Said Sora's brother handing his father a painting of the three of them together _

"_Wow this is really good son." _

"_Check out mine." Said Sora handing his father his painting, it was far better than his brothers _

"_Wow Sora! This is incredible." Said his father, Sora's brother looked him and growled and slapped him on the back of the head. _

"_Hey!" yelled their father "That's enough Zhuang!" Zhuang growled and stormed out of the kitchen. _

"_What is that boy's problem?" asked Sora' father _

"_I have no idea." Replied his wife _

_With that Sora ate his breakfast and his mother took him to school, after school however his parents didn't show up. Luckily he remembered the route home, it was a long walk and it was dark by the time he got there. But discovered to his horror that his house was on fire. _

"_Mom! Dad! Zhuang!" Sora ran to his house as fast as he could, he entered the burning house, he kept calling out to his family but there were no answers then he tripped over something, when he looked he wanted to throw up. It was his dad, and there was an axe sticking out of his head. He backed away and he heard someone call his name. _

"_Sora!" said a familiar voice; he turned around and saw his mom being held by someone with a dagger to her throat. _

"_Sora….Run!" just then the stranger dragged his dagger across the lioness' throat; blood spewed out of her neck and stained Sora's fur. His mom fell to the ground and bled out on the floor. _

"_Momma?...Momma?" she didn't answer, tears weld up in the young cubs eyes then he looked at the stranger. _

"_Why?" asked Sora _

"_This was all your fault." The stranger said in a cold tone "I should kill you right now, but there are worst things than death." _

_The stranger walked over to Sora and swung his dagger across the cubs cheek "Now every time you look at yourself that scar will remind that it was your fault they died." The stranger backed away into the smoke and disappeared; Sora ran out of the burning house and watched as it collapsed. Sora ran away as fast as he could, he found himself in a forest and there was snow everywhere. Sora sat at a tree and huddled himself up into a ball and cried. _

**(End of flashback)**

"And that's my story." Said Sora, Everyone stared at him in horror; no one spoke for a while.

"That's just…I don't even know what to say." Said Mantis

"I know, for a child to go through all that, that's messed up." Replied Crane

"No wonder you didn't want to talk about your past." Said Po

"I'm sorry." Said Tigress

"What for?" asked Sora

"For not trusting you at the start, I feel guilty now."

"Don't worry about."

"I do have a question though."

"Ask away."

"What happened to your brother? Was he there when it happened?"

"Yeah."

"Then why didn't he do anything?"

"Because he was the one who killed them."

"What?" asked Po

"Yep, you heard right."

"But why?"

"Because of me, he was right it was my fault."

"How was it your fault?" asked Monkey

"I've always been better than my brother at everything, he believed that our parents loved me more than him but they loved us equally, he never saw it, so he killed them because of me."

"It wasn't your fault Sora." Said Viper, Sora stood up "It was! Don't you get it? I was always a show off; I never let Zhuang have his moment."

"You were just a kid, brothers always compete for their parents' love, I know I did with my brother." Said Monkey

"You don't get it….I need to be alone." Sora left the kitchen, left the palace and wondered around the town below, he heard a cry for help; he went to investigate and saw the boars that he first encountered when he arrived in The Valley and they were mugging someone.

"Hey!" yelled Sora, the boars turned around and saw the lion glaring at them "Hey, I know you; you're that guy who beat us up weeks ago." Said one of the boars

"Glad you remember." Replied Sora, The Boar Boss stepped forward "You may have beat us last time but we're stronger now." Sora took a fighting stance "So am I."

Boars numbers 1, 2 and 3 charged at the same time, Sora flipped over them and kicked Boar number 3 in back knocking both him and Boar number 2 into a wall, Boar number 1 panicked and ran away as did the other two. Sora turned to The Boar Boss who was readying his war hammer. The Boar Charged and delivered numerous swings with his hammer but Sora dodged them, he attempted one powerful swing at the lion but Sora forced his palm into the hammer destroying it, then he punched The Boar Boss in the face and delivered a powerful kick to his stomach sending him flying into a wall. The Boar Boss ran away in fear, Sora turned to the person they were mugging. It was a lioness, she was his age, she had yellow fur, blue eyes and she was wearing a red dress with yellow trims.

"Are you ok ma'am?" asked Sora

"Yes, thank you." She bowed to Sora and walked off home.

"Wow, she's beautiful." Sora thought to himself, and then he made his way back up to the palace.


	5. Chapter 5: Confessions

**Chapter 5: Confessions **

After Sora left Po and the others went to the training hall, Viper was going to spar with Crane, Monkey was going to spar with Mantis and Tigress was going to spar with Po. Tigress took her signature fighting stance as did Po.

"Ready?" asked Tigress

"Ready!" replied Po

Tigress got on all fours and charged Po, she delivered some powerful punches that Po blocked and dodged. Po grabbed her fist and threw her across the room but she dug her claws into the ground which slowed her down. She charged at Po and jumped kicked him in the face but Po grabbed her foot and swung her into a wall, Tigress got up right away and delivered numerous punches to the panda but he blocked them all and kicked her in the stomach and roundhouse kicked her in the face.

"Looks like I win Tigress." Said Po, Tigress didn't reply she just simply brushed herself off and walked away, Po felt sad for a moment but he saw Sora entering the training and ran over to him.

"Hey buddy." Said Po

"Hey." Replied Sora

"Wanna have a sparring match?" asked Po

"Sure." Replied Sora, Shifu saw what happened between Po and Tigress just then and walked over to her

"Tigress, come with me, we need to talk." Said Shifu

"Alright." Shifu led Tigress out of the training hall so they could talk in private

"What's going on between you and Po?" asked Shifu

"What do you mean?" asked Tigress

"Ever since the festival you've been avoiding Po, what happened? Did you get into an argument?"

"No."

"Than why are you avoiding him?"

"It's just that….at the festival everyone was dancing but me, Po saw that and asked me to dance and I said no, he took me to the forest so no one could see us dance, I was enjoying it but Po tripped over a rock and fell back, and I fell on top of him and my lips crashed onto his." Shifu stared at Tigress

"Is that it?" asked Shifu

"Yeah, I was so confused that I ran away, I've been avoiding because he might be angry with me."

"Tigress, Po wouldn't be angry with you for running away, but I'm sure he's hurt that you've been avoiding him." Tigress' ears dropped

"But I must ask you, why were you confused? It was just a little accident."

"I was confused because…..I liked it."

"Did you just say you liked?"

"Yes and I don't know why, ever since Gongmen city every time I see Po my heart keeps racing and my cheeks feel warm."

"Ohhhhh, I know what's wrong."

"What?"

"Tigress, you're in love with Po."

"What?" Tigress couldn't believe it but she thought about it really hard and realized Shifu was right; she was in love with Po.

"You're right, but I don't know if he likes me back."

"Don't worry Tigress, I'm sure he does." Shifu went back into the training hall and Tigress soon followed. Later that night after dinner Tigress went to her room to think, 5 minutes later there was a knock at her door.

"Who is it?" asked Tigress

"It's Po, I need to talk to you." Tigress hesitated for second but she took a deep breath "Come in." Po entered her room, Tigress avoided eye contact.

"Tigress, why have you been avoiding me lately? Did I do something wrong?" asked Po, Tigress looked into the panda's jade green eyes.

"It's not you Po it's me, I thought you'd be angry with me after I ran away from you after what happened."

"Tigress, I'm not mad at you, I am a little hurt though that you've been avoiding me, I thought you didn't want to be friends anymore."

"Po how could you think that? Our friendship means everything to me."

"Sorry, I should've known better, well see ya later." Po got up and was about to leave but he was stopped by Tigress.

"Po wait." Said Tigress

"What is it?" asked Po

"There's something I have to tell you."

"What is it?" Tigress stood up and walked over to Po; she looked deep into his eyes and found the strength to confess.

"Po I-I love you." Po went wide eyed.

"If you don't feel the same way I understa-" she was cut off by pair of lips, it took her 3 seconds to realize Po was kissing her. She put her arms around his neck and melted into the kiss, it lasted for a few minutes before they finally broke for air.

"I love you too." Said Po

"HAH! Pay up Monkey." Said a familiar voice behind the door, Tigress slid her door open and saw that Shifu, Sora and the rest of The Five were standing right behind it.

"How much did you hear?" asked Tigress

"All of it." Said Sora in a nervous tone, Shifu stepped forward "I'm glad for the two of you, Po if you wish to date my daughter, you have my blessing." "Gee, thanks Shifu." Replied Po, with that everyone went into their own rooms. Tigress had pleasant dreams that night, she dreamt about her and Po being together forever.


	6. Chapter 6: A Day Off

**Chapter 6: A Day Off **

Po and Tigress became a couple after confessing their feelings for each other, they were deeply in love, but they didn't let their relationship interfere with their training. Sora's skills have improved greatly and is well on his way to becoming a master.

Everyone had just finished their training and went to the kitchen to have dinner; they all sat at the table talking while Po fixed up dinner, the only one who wasn't chatting was Sora who's been acting very distant ever since he told them about what his brother did to his parents. He's doesn't socialize with everyone like he used to, he hasn't had a sparring match with Po since the day he and Tigress became a couple, and after dinner he always went to The Sacred Peach Tree for an hour, everyone was worried about him, especially Po. After dinner Shifu made an announcement.

"Tomorrow morning you will all be given the day off, you've been working hard these past few weeks and you all need your rest." Said Shifu, after that everyone went to the barracks to and think about what they're going to do tomorrow. Po noticed that Sora wasn't among them; he went to The Sacred Peach Tree and saw the lion sitting underneath the tree.

"Hey buddy." Said Po sitting down next to his friend

"Hey." Replied Sora in an emotionless tone

"You ok?" asked Po

"Yeah, why?"

"You've been a little….distant lately; we're all worried about you."

"Sorry, it's just that ….ever since I told about what happened to my parents I can't stop thinking that night, I keep having nightmares and…. I'm just falling apart." Po didn't say anything; he couldn't begin to imagine what Sora's going through, it began to rain and Po had an idea.

"Hey let me show something." He said getting up, Po moved his arms around, then he caught a raindrop and Sora watched as Po did a series of movements as the raindrop gracefully danced across his arms, before finally he set the raindrop on a plant next to him, Sora stood up.

"How did you do that?" asked Sora

"Inner Peace." Said Po

"I've heard of that, once a master achieves Inner Peace they're able to harness the flow of the universe and do the seemingly impossible."

"That's right; there are two ways of achieving Inner Peace, one is meditating in a cave for 50 years without eating or drinking anything, or through tragedy like me and Shifu."

"But why are you showing me this?" asked Sora

"Well I figured that it would've cheered you up to see something you'll be able to do someday."

"Ya think so?"

"Yeah."

"Well that does cheer me up a little bit."

"I knew it would, so do you wanna hang out tomorrow?" asked Po

"Nah, besides you should spend tomorrow with Tigress."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." With that Po went to the barracks leaving Sora alone with his thoughts, an hour later Sora went to bed. The next morning the gong rang the only person who came out their room was Sora.

"Sora why aren't you still asleep?" asked Shifu

"Well I actually woke up an hour ago."

"I see, well it's your day off you can do as you please."

Sora went down to The Valley; he decided to go into Mr. Ping's noodle shop for some breakfast. We walked over to the window, Mr. Ping saw him and smiled then he waddled over to the window.

"Hello Sora, what brings you here?" asked Mr. Ping

"One bowl of noodles please." said Sora

"Coming right up, you can have table 6 over there." Sora bowed and sat at table 6, a few minutes later Mr. Ping came out with his order, as Sora ate he saw someone entering the shop, he went wide eyed, it was the lioness he saved. She went over to the window and ordered a bowl of noodles and sat at table 3, when she saw Sora she looked away and blushed a little bit but Sora didn't notice. He ate his noodles, left some money on the table and left the shop. He decided go and do some training in the bamboo forest outside of town. He spent a few minutes training but he heard a twig snap.

"Who's there?" he asked, but there was no answer, then he saw a shadow hiding in the bamboo, on instinct he charged and pounced on the figure and pinned it down.

"Get off me!" the figure said, Sora realised it was the lioness; he climbed off her and helped her up.

"Why did you attack me?" she asked

"Instinct, why are you out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm training." Sora said gesturing to some broken bamboo behind him

"Again what're you doing out here?" asked Sora

"I saw in the noodle shop and I kinda wanted to get to know you."

"You did?"

"You did save my life."

"It was nothing."

"My name is Mai."

"I'm Sora."

"That's an unusual name." said Mai

"It's Japanese, my father's best friend was from Japan, when he died he named me after him."

"Your father sounds like a great man."

"He was the best."

"Was?"

"It's a long story." Sora and Mai left the bamboo and chatted for a while, they became really good friends. Sora noticed that Mai kept blushing whenever he got close to her which confused him a little; Po and Tigress saw them and walked over to them.

"Hey Sora." Said Po

"Oh hey Po, hey Tigress." Replied Sora

"Who's this?" asked Tigress

"This Mai, I saved her life a couple of weeks ago." Said Sora

"Well Mai, I'm Po the Dragon Warrior, and this is girlfriend Master Tigress."

"Pleased to meet you." Replied Mai

"So what're you guys doing here?" asked Sora

"We're just wondering around." Said Po

"Same here." Replied Sora

"Well see ya at palace." Said Po

"Alright." Po and Tigress left the two alone; Sora took Mai to a hill overlooking The Valley of Peace.

"Wow this place is beautiful." Said Mai

"I know right." Sora sat down and gestured Mai to sit down, they stared at The Valley for a while.

"So Sora where are you from?" asked Mai

"A farm miles from here."

"What about your parents?" Sora was afraid she was going ask that he looked into her eyes, they were just so beautiful, he found the strength to tell her what he told Po and the others. After he finished she looked at in horror, Sora looked at the ground, he couldn't blame her, after 14 long years even he still couldn't believe, then what happened next completely shocked him, Mai had thrown her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. Sora was really confused she was the first girl aside from his mother to ever hug him. She let go a few seconds later, the sun started to set and Mai had to get home, she said goodbye to Sora and left him alone, he sat there for a few minutes still shocked by the hug, but he eventually snapped out of it and proceeded to The Jade Palace.


	7. Chapter 7: Sora's Birthday

**Chapter 7: Sora's Birthday **

"Ready?" asked Sora

"Ready." Replied Po

Sora got on all fours and charged Po and delivered numerous punches but Po blocked and dodged them all, Po attempted to jump spin kick him but Sora blocked the attack with his forearm and punched Po in the face causing him to stumble back. Sora charged at Po again but he recovered and forced his palm into the lion's face, Sora went flying across the arena, Sora dug his claws into the ground causing him stop.

"You're getting good Sora." Said Po

"Thanks, but now it's time to get serious." Sora spun around with incredible speed, as soon as he stopped he thrusted his arm forward sending a blue light flying at Po.

Po couldn't believe his eyes; Sora had just used the Thundering Wind Hammer. Po snapped out of his trance and deflected it.

"Sora, how did you learn the Thundering Wind Hammer? It's one of the Seven Impossible Moves."

"Really? It's actually quite easy, besides that's not all I can do." Sora got into multiple stances then brought his hands close together vertically then a large fire ball appeared between hands.

"The Mongolian Fire Ball?" Sora nodded and launched the fire ball at the sky and it turned into a black hole, all it absorbed was some dust and leaves from the tree nearby, the black hole eventually disappeared.

"How did you learn those techniques?" asked Po

"I saw you use them the other day." Just then Master Shifu popped out of nowhere which scared Po and Sora a little bit.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that." Said Sora

"So Sora, I was wondering what you'd like for your birthday tomorrow." Said Shifu

"Wait how did you-"

"You talk in your sleep sometimes." Said Shifu

"Hey why didn't you tell me it was your birthday tomorrow?" asked Po

"Slipped my mind I guess, I haven't celebrated my birthday in 14 years."

"Well we're celebrating this year." Said Po

"I'll go and tell the Five." Said Shifu

Po and Sora went back to sparring, later that night Sora was bombarded with questions like "What do you want for your birthday?" and "How old are you going to be?" and "What do you want to do on your birthday?" all the attention made Sora feel uneasy, Ever since the death of his parents he didn't like being the centre of attention.

"Guys, guys, you don't have to do anything special on my birthday, just act like it's a normal, it's what I do anyway." Said Sora

"Not happening buddy, after what you've through you deserve a special birthday." Said Po

"Fine, but don't over do it." With that everyone went to bed, Sora lied in bed, this was the first birthday in 14 years that was actually going to be celebrated, he had completely forgotten what it's like. He sighed and went to sleep.

The next morning Sora awoke but the gong hadn't rung yet, he got out of bed and slid open his door.

"SURPRISE!" Po and the others yelled, Sora's heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

"Don't do that." He said

"Sorry buddy." Said Po

Sora and the others proceeded to the kitchen, Po cooked up a huge breakfast, after breakfast Sora, Monkey and Mantis went down to the village while the others were setting up the surprise party.

"So Sora how old are you now?" asked Mantis

"21." Replied the birthday lion

"Really? You're younger than I thought." Said Monkey

"How old did you think I was?"

"I don't know….30."

"Hey Sora!" said a familiar voice, Sora looked to his left and saw Mai waving at him, Sora waved back while Monkey and Mantis exchanged looks as if to say "Looks like someone's got a girlfriend." Mai ran over to the warriors.

"Hi Mai, what're doing here?" asked Sora

"Oh, I'm just running some errands." Replied Mai

"So Sora who's your friend?" asked Mantis

"Monkey, Mantis this is Mai, Mai this is Monkey and Mantis."

"Nice to meet you." Said Mai as she bowed

"So Sora, what're you doing here?" she asked

"That's actually a good question, after breakfast this morning Monkey and Mantis literally dragged me out of the palace."

"Well…..errr….we errr...don't hang out enough, and since it's your birthday we figured it would be a good opportunity." Said Mantis

"Sora why didn't you tell it was your birthday? I would've bought you a present." Said Mai

"Slipped my mind." Replied Sora

"Well do you wanna hang out?" asked Mai

"If it's ok with Monkey and Mantis."

"Sure, we don't mind." Said Monkey, with that Monkey and Mantis went back up to the palace, leaving Sora and Mai alone.

"What do you want to do?" asked Sora, Mai giggled "You idiot, it's your birthday you decide, Oh! But first I have to finish my errands." "Alright I'll help you."

**(At The Jade Palace) **

Everyone was setting up Sora's surprise party, Tigress and Viper and putting up the decorations and Po and Mr. Ping were cooking a birthday cake. Monkey and Mantis came into the kitchen.

"Monkey! Mantis! What're you doing here? You're supposed to be keeping Sora away from the palace until we're ready." Said Po

"Don't worry, that lioness friend of his showed up and he's with her." Said Monkey

"Alright, but go outside and keep guard in case he comes back early." Said Shifu

"Fine." Monkey and Mantis left the kitchen.

**(With Sora and Mai)**

Sora and Mai had finished the errands and wondered around town.

"So Sora, how old are you?" asked Mai

"21, you?"

"20." Replied Mai

"So how's life at the Jade Palace?" she asked

"It's amazing; I've never felt more at home than I do there." Replied Sora, they continued talking for half an hour then Crane came flying down towards them.

"Sora, Master Shifu needs to speak with you immediately, bring your friend." Said Crane

Sora and Mai followed Crane up to the Jade Palace; he led them into the kitchen.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SORA!" everyone yelled in unison, Sora looked around, there were decorations all over the place, loads of food on the table a huge cake on the centre of the table, and another table that had presents.

"Wow….thanks guys." Said Sora

"Open your gifts." Said Viper

Sora opened his presents; he got a necklace, a Bo staff and picture of him and the others together from Po and Mr. Ping. A royal blue vest with black trims and a black dragon on the back and a new pair of black silk pants from Viper. A black cloak, a straw hat and paint brushes from Crane. And a box of scrolls, from Tigress and Shifu.

"Thanks guys." Said Sora

"No problem, you deserve it after all." Said Po

"Let's party!" said Mantis, with that the party began, it lasted for hours. Mr. Ping left after he was starting to get a stomach ache from eating too much food, then about an hour later Mai decided to leave because she was getting tired.

"I guess I'll see you around." Said Sora

"Yeah." Mai then kissed Sora on the cheek "Happy Birthday Sora." She then left, Sora put his hand on his cheek, he stayed like that for a couple of seconds then he went back to the party. It was getting late and everyone went to the bed, Sora laid there thinking about everything that happened today "Best day ever." He thought to himself.

The next morning everyone went into the kitchen, but were surprised to find a hooded figure sitting at the table, he kept chucking a dagger into the table, pulling it out and chucking it back into the same spot. Sora eyed the dagger, it looked familiar, Shifu approached the stranger.

"Who are you? And what're you doing here?" Shifu demanded, The Stranger looked at the old red panda and didn't answer. The Stranger sheathed his dagger and stood up, slowly he removed his hood. Sora went wide eyed; shock and anger surged through his body. The Stranger looked at Sora and said "Hello Brother."


	8. Chapter 8: Inner Peace

**Chapter 8: Inner Peace**

"Hello Brother." Said the stranger, rage built up in Sora's body then he released a loud roar.

"Zhuang!" he yelled, Zhuang looked a lot like Sora except he was taller and bulkier and his mane was longer and thicker.

"I must say Sora, your roar has improved a lot since we were kids, I remember when you would roar at the insects that came into farm in attempt to scare them away, but it never worked." Said Zhuang

"What're you doing here?" asked Sora with an enraged tone

"I'm a little hurt Bro, after 14 years I thought you'd be glad to me" said Zhuang, Sora growled at his brother.

"Wait that's Zhuang?" asked Po

"Oh so you've heard of me?" asked Zhuang

"Yeah, you're the nut who killed his own parents." Said Mantis

"Ah yes, I remember that now." Replied Zhuang

"You have no right showing your face here Zhuang." Said Sora

"Oh Sora look at you, all grown up and in your big boys pants, it's no fun. Still, better off than Mom and Dad." Sora lunged at his brother and pinned him to the wall by his throat causing the wall to crack. Everyone was surprised by Sora's sudden strength.

"Wow, you've gotten stronger Bro, but why are you angry at me? It's your fault they died, remember?" Sora's face fell and his grip loosened, Zhuang took advantage of the moment and punched Sora in the stomach and delivered a kick to his jaw, sending him flying out of the kitchen. Po charged at Zhuang delivered numerous punches but Zhuang blocked them all and struck the panda in the face knocking him back.

The others attacked him at once but Zhuang somehow avoided them all and ran off, Sora regained consciousness and chased his brother into the Sacred Hall of Warriors.

"Stop right there Zhuang!" said Sora, Zhuang stopped and turned to his brother.

"Alright." Zhuang took fighting stance as did Sora, the two brothers glared at each other for moment then Sora charged Zhuang and attempted to jump kick him but Zhuang grabbed his foot and slammed Sora into the ground and he chucked him into the air, when he fell Zhuang delivered a jump spin kick to his younger brother's back.

Sora flew across the room and slammed into one of the columns, Sora got to feet and saw Zhuang on all fours running at him, Sora tried to kick him but Zhuang jumped and landed a front flip kick to the back of Sora's head slamming him to the ground. Sora managed to get to his feet.

"I'm impressed little brother, you really know how to take a hit." Said Zhuang, Po and the others came into the hall and saw Sora confronting his brother.

"Sora!" Po called, they ran towards them but Sora stopped them.

"No! This is my fight!" said Sora

Zhuang punched Sora in face causing him to stagger back, then he landed a couple of punches to his stomach, Sora attempted to roundhouse kick him but Zhuang ducked and delivered an uppercut to Sora's jaw sending flying into Master Flying Rhino's armour, he got on all fours and coughed, he glared Zhuang and struggled to get to his feet. Zhuang charged Sora landed numerous punches and kicks before finally delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to his ribs. Sora flew and skidded across the floor; Po ran over to him and helped him up.

"How could you do this to your own brother?" asked Po

"He brought this on himself, if he didn't show me up at everything, if he had just let our Mom and Dad be proud of ME for one measly minute then they would still be alive. Think of it as his punishment." Zhuang began to walk away but stopped and turned to the warriors.

"Come and find me at the Outlands when you're actually a match for me." Said Zhuang, he turned and walked away, Sora watched his brother leave before he blacked out.

When Sora awoke he saw Po and Tigress asleep next to his bed, he looked out the window and noticed it was night time. He got out of bed without waking Po and Tigress and he went to the Sacred Peach Tree, when he arrived a cool breeze blew through his fur, he looked over to the horizon and saw a large storm cloud.

"You ok?" asked a familiar voice behind him, he turned and saw Mai standing a couple of feet behind him.

"Oh, hey." Said Sora

"Hi." Replied Mai walking over to him

"I heard about what happened this morning." Said Mai

"You did?"

"The whole valley did."

"Then they must've heard that I was beaten towards an inch of my life." Sora sighed "But I guess I deserve it."

"Sora you didn't do anything wrong."

"I did, my brother was right, I made him feel unloved, and that drove him to kill our parents." Mai moved in closer and placed her paw on his shoulder.

"Sora, what your brother did was his fault not yours, I bet he was just using you as an excuse to keep his conscience clear."

"You don't know that." Said Sora moving away from her "I'll tell you what I do know." Mai walked over to him and stepped in front of him and looked deep into his eyes and he looked into hers.

"Sora, you're kind, caring, intelligent, funny, talented, and clueless at times and I know that you could never provoke someone to do what your brother did, Sora you're the most amazing guy I've ever met." Then Mai kissed him on the lips, Sora stood there for a moment in shock but he melted into it and pulled her in closer, the kiss lasted for a couple of minutes before they broke for air. Mai then walked away, she passed Po and Tigress on her down.

"He's at the tree." Said Mai

"Is he alright?" asked Tigress, Mai looked back at the tree and smiled, and then she looked back at the masters "I have a feeling he's going to be just fine." Mai proceeded to walk away.

Sora stood there looking over at the horizon, he thought hard about Mai's words and realised she was right, it was Zhuang who killed their parents, he did it on his own and Sora had nothing to do with it. It began to rain and Sora wanted to try something. Po and Tigress saw Sora moving his right foot across the ground behind him; they decided to hide behind the tree and watch. Sora did multiple movements with arms then he caught a raindrop, Sora made the raindrop move gracefully across from one arm to another. Finally he placed the raindrop on a plant next to him.

"You guys can come out now." Said Sora, Po and Tigress stepped out from behind the tree and approached their friend.

"You ok?" asked Po, Sora turned to Po and smiled "Never been better." Just then Shifu popped out of nowhere with a smile on his face "It seems you have found Inner Peace." Said Shifu

"You saw that?" asked Sora

"I saw everything." Shifu smirked and Sora turned red

"We will begin training first thing tomorrow morning, then we leave for the Outlands in 3 weeks." Said Shifu

"Master I've been meaning to ask you, what are the Outlands?" asked Tigress

"The Outlands is a place where the worst of the worst reside, Bandits, Thieves and Murderers all around." Replied Shifu

"Sounds like the sort of place my brother would go." Said Sora

"Then get all the rest you can tonight, because tomorrow we'll be training harder than ever before."


	9. Chapter 9: The Temple of Ancient Wisdom

**Chapter 9: The Temple of Ancient Wisdom **

The morning gong rang and everyone came out of theirs rooms to greet their master.

"Good morning Master." They said in unison

"Good morning Students, pack your things, we leave in 1 hour." Replied Shifu

"Pack our things? Why? Where're going?" asked Tigress

"We are going to The Temple of Ancient Wisdom to train with Master He-Ping." Said Shifu

"_The_ Master He-Ping?" asked Po

"Yes."

"Awesome!" yelled the panda

"Wait, who's Master He-Ping?" asked Crane

"He was Master Oogway's very first student," said Sora "His Kung Fu is said to be so powerful that he could wipe out an entire army with one strike."

"Correct, Last night I sent Zheng to the Temple of Ancient Wisdom with request that Master He-Ping train us, and he agreed." Said Shifu

"Is this all necessary Master? I mean Zhuang is just another villain, we can beat him." Said Tigress

"No, Zhuang isn't just a villain, I know what my brother's capable of, when I was fighting him yesterday I noticed that he wasn't even trying." Replied Sora

"Plus with all the thieves and bandits it couldn't hurt to learn some new tricks." Said Monkey

"I guess so." Said Tigress

"Then pack your things." Said Shifu, with that everyone packed for their journey, an hour later everyone departed. Shifu was at the front leading the way, Mantis was riding on Monkey's shoulder, Crane was behind them and Viper was behind him, Po and Tigress were walking together, talking, sometimes they'd share a couple of kisses, and behind them all was Sora, he was deep thought, everyone was going through so much because of _his _brother. Then something caught his eye, he saw Mai standing outside her house, she looked at Sora with a confused face. Sora walked over to her and the others waited for him.

"Where are you guys going?" asked Mai

"We're going to The Temple of Ancient Wisdom to train under Master He-Ping, then we're going to The Outlands to confront my brother." Said Sora

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know."

"Well….come back safe, ok?" Sora smiled "Ok." Mai planted a kiss on his lips and Sora went to the others, then they began walking again, Mai watched them until Sora and the others had completely disappeared from her sight.

The Warriors had been travelling for days; they climbed mountains, endured blizzards and wondered through scorching deserts. Finally they arrived in a forest; they stopped to rest for a few minutes.

"Man, I haven't been this tired since we travelled to Gongmen City." Said Po

"I know how you feel, how come Sora's the only one who's not exhausted?" asked Monkey

"Dude, I've been travelling through China for 14 years, I'm used to it." Replied Sora

"How much further is this temple?" asked Tigress wiping the sweat from her brow

"We're already here." Said Shifu

"What?" asked Tigress

Shifu pointed and everyone saw a large mountain with a large temple near the summit, everyone rested for couple of minutes then made their way to the mountain.

"Oh no." said Po, there were steppes like at The Jade Palace but thousands more, they proceeded up the stairs but Po got exhausted half way up, Tigress and Sora had help him up the rest of the way. When they reached the top Sora and Tigress collapsed from exhaustion.

"Po, how much do you weigh?" asked Sora

"Sora it's best not to ask." Replied Tigress, they got up and went into the temple, there was a courtyard the size of The Sacred Hall of Warriors. And opposite them was large temple, twice the size of The Jade Palace. Then the doors of the temple opened and a figure stepped out from the shadows, he was a lion like Sora but severely aged, he had light brown fur, a dark brown mane, brown eyes, he was wearing a white robe with a golden sash wrapped around his waist and golden cuffs, he was wearing a golden toga over it and he was holding a staff.

"Welcome to The Temple of Ancient Wisdom, I am Master He-Ping." Said the old lion, everyone bowed; He-Ping looked at Sora and smiled.

"Ah Sora, it's good to see after all these years." Said He-Ping

"How do you know my name?" asked Sora

"I'm supposed to I'm your great-great-great-great-great….how many greats again? Oh forget it just call me Grandfather."

"What?" yelled Sora

"You heard right young one." Sora's head was spinning apart from Zhuang he didn't know he had any living relatives, especially ones that looked like they were over a hundred years old.

"Look at you, you look just like your father, but you have your mother's eyes, I'm sorry about what happened to them." Said He-Ping

"You know?"

"Yes, it was partly my fault, I sensed darkness in Zhuang's heart the day he was born, but my love for family blinded me from the truth and your parents paid the price, I am sorry Sora."

"Don't worry about it."

"We will begin your training tomorrow at dawn." Said He-Ping

"Just one thing, you don't seem to be hesitant about training us to defeat Zhuang." Said Sora

"You are correct, Zhuang is too dangerous to be kept alive, I'm not happy with the idea but it has to be done."

The Warriors went into the temple with He-Ping; they had a large dinner, talked for a bit then He-Ping showed them to their rooms. The next day at dawn the gong rang and everybody came out their rooms and greeted Master He-Ping. They had breakfast and proceeded to the training course.

There were some logs sticking out of the ground, all different sizes. Wooden dummies covered in metal spikes, flaming rings, a series of blades going back and forth and other training equipment.

Sora was balancing on the logs while He-Ping threw rocks at him, he kept losing his balance and falling off, Monkey practised on the flaming rings but he kept getting burnt, Tigress practised on the wooden punching dummies with spikes, and despite her hands being numb after years of punching the iron wood trees it still hurt like crazy. Po was made to run up the stairs continuously causing him to throw up constantly, Crane was deflecting arrows being fired by a machine at rapid speed, he didn't deflect many, he kept getting cut. Viper was trying to shatter some rocks with her tail, but she couldn't even crack them and it hurt her tail. Mantis was practising his speed against some wooden dummies that were spinning and incredible speed, he kept getting knocked around. And as for Shifu he was made to run through the blades without using his teleporting ability, it was difficult; he either slammed into a blade or got cut by one.

This was the hardest any of them have ever trained in their entire lives, but they knew it would be worth in the end. Because then they'll be ready to go to the Outlands and face Zhuang.


	10. Chapter 10: Confrontation

**Chapter 10: Confrontation **

3 weeks had past since Sora, Po, the Furious Five and Shifu had arrived at The Temple of Ancient Wisdom, their skills have improved greatly, and they were ready to go to The Outlands. Sora was nervous, what if he screwed and his friends died, he couldn't bare that, so he came up with the idea to go to The Outlands alone.

It was the night before they were going to depart, everyone had eaten their dinner and they were chatting, Po noticed that Sora looked a little distant.

"Hey Sora, you alright buddy?" asked Po

"You guys don't have to do this you know." Said Sora

"What do you mean?" asked Tigress

"You don't have to come with me to The Outlands, it's me who's got a grudge against my brother not you." Explained Sora

"That's where you're wrong, your part of our family Sora, we want him to pay for what he did to you." Said Po

"Thanks guys." Said Sora

Everyone went to their rooms to get some rest for tomorrow, all except Sora who was sitting on his windowsill and staring out into the horizon. Sora was thinking hard about Po's words, that he was part of their family; he didn't want to loose that again, so if he couldn't convince them not to come then Sora was going to have to sneak out and face Zhuang on his own.

Sora put on the black cloak and straw hat Crane got him for his birthday, he grabbed the Bo staff Po got him for his birthday, then he looked down the necklace Po gave him, he never took it off. He hesitated for moment but he yanked the necklace off his neck and placed it on his pillow. He went over to the window, but heard someone come into his room; he turned and saw He-Ping.

"You're going to face Zhuang alone aren't you?" asked He-Ping

"Don't try to stop me." Said Sora

"I won't, I can see that you feel you need to do this on your own."

"I won't loose my friends to my brother."

"Then go, but they will figure it out and come after you."

"I know."

Sora climbed out of his window, strapped the Bo staff to his back, got on all fours and ran down the steps as fast as he could and he made his way to The Outlands.

The next morning the gong rang, the warriors stepped out of their rooms and greeted Master He-Ping, they all noticed that Sora hadn't come out of his room.

"Hey Sora wake up." Said Po but there was no answer

"Sora?" Po called his name but still no answer

Po slid open his door and saw that the lion was nowhere to be seen, something caught The Dragon Warrior's eye, he saw something shining on Sora's pillow, he picked it up and saw that it was the necklace he got Sora for his birthday.

"Where's Sora?" asked Mantis

"He must've went to fight Zhuang alone!" said Po

"Po, I don't think Sora would do that." Said Tigress

"The Dragon Warrior is right." Said Master He-Ping "Sora went to The Outlands on his own late last night."

"And you let him?" yelled Po

"He's doing it to protect all of you." Said He-Ping

"What do you mean protect us?" asked Viper

"He's worried he's going to loose you to Zhuang like his parents."

"Then we have to go or he'll die." Said Crane

With that everyone, ran out of the temple, down the stairs and made their way to The Outlands.

**(With Sora)**

Sora had arrived at The Outlands and couldn't believe his eyes, the place was a wasteland, there was no grass, the trees were dead, and a large storm cloud hung over the land, Sora could see thousands of campfires at the other side of the land was a large tower. Sora heard someone coming and hid behind a rock, it was The Boar Boss and his lackeys. Sora stepped out from the rock.

"Who're you?" asked The Boar Boss, Sora lifted his head and The Boar Boss sighed.

"You again? I swear you're stalking us." Said the Boar Boss

"Where is Zhuang?" asked Sora

"Kid, there are millions of people in The Outlands, hundreds of them are bound to be called Zhuang."

"The Zhuang I'm looking is a lion." Said Sora

"Oh you mean Lord Zhuang." Said one of the boars

"Lord?"

"He's The Lord of The Outlands, he lives in that large tower over there." Said another boar

"How did he become Lord of The Outlands?" asked Sora

"How it works is, whoever can defeat the current Lord in combat will become the new Lord of The Outlands." Said another boar

"Zhuang has been The Lord of The Outlands for 14 years." Said the Boar Boss

"Thanks for info." Sora attempted to walk past them but was stopped by The Boar Boss.

"And where do you think you're going?" asked The Boar Boss

"To defeat Zhuang." Said Sora

"Well you're going to have to go through us." Said one of the boars, Sora smirked "Gladly."

Sora grabbed The Boar Boss's arm and flipped him, Boar number 1 pulled out a dagger and charged Sora but he grabbed his Bo staff and whacked Boar number 1's hand causing him to drop the dagger. Sora then landed numerous hits to Boar number 1 with his Bo staff before finally kicking him in the chest, knocking him out. Boars numbers 2 and 3 charged Sora at the same time but Sora performed a jump split kick and it was lights out for them. The Boar Boss got up and delivered numerous punches but Sora blocked them and landed a powerful punch to The Boar Boss's stomach causing him to pass out.

Sora glanced at the tower and proceeded to it.

**(With Po and The others) **

Po and The others had been running for hours, normally Po would've been exhausted from running so far but after all that time running up and down the stairs again and again Po's stamina had increased.

"How much further till we reach The Outlands?" asked Tigress

"Not far." Replied Shifu

"Sora, why did you go alone?" Po thought to himself

"There it is!" said Crane

They stopped to see if they could spot Sora, but he was nowhere in sight. They heard groaning and they saw The Boar Boss and his minions.

"Hey you!" said Po

"What?" yelled The Boar Boss

"We're looking for a lion who came through here." Said Po

"Oh, I know who you're talking about, he came here looking for Lord Zhuang, he beat us down and went to the tower on the other side of The Outlands a couple of hours ago." Replied the Boar Boss

"A Couple of hours? We'll never reach him in time. Unless?" Po turned to The Boar Boss "Is there a shortcut to the tower?" asked Po

"Why should I tell you?" asked The Boar Boss

"Do you really want to find out?" asked Po, The Boar Boss got the message "There is no shortcut, but if you hitch a ride on one of the supply wagons it won't take as long."

"Where can we find a supply wagon?" asked Shifu

"There's one down there right now." Everyone looked down the hill and saw a supply wagon being stocked, they rushed towards and hid inside, then the wagon made its way to Zhuang's tower.

**(With Sora) **

Sora had arrived at the courtyard, surprisingly there were no guards, Sora went into the tower and found himself in a large throne room. At the end of the room sitting on his throne was Zhuang.

"Welcome Brother," said Zhuang "I've been expecting you."

"It all ends here Zhuang; you'll pay for what did to Mom and Dad." Said Sora

"But it was your fault Sora." Said Zhuang

"Don't try any head games brother, it was your fault and you know it." Zhuang smirked and stood up from his throne.

He walked over to Sora and took a fighting stance; Sora took a fighting stance as well.

The two brothers readied themselves because they both knew this was going to be their final battle.


	11. Chapter 11: Between Brothers

**Chapter 11: Between Brothers **

Sora and Zhuang stood opposite each other; everything that happened in their lives has been leading up to this point. The brothers charged each and found themselves locked in combat; they were matching each other blow for blow. Both brothers punched each other in the face causing them both to stagger back, Sora recovered first and charged Zhuang and attempted to jump kick him but Zhuang moved out of the way. Zhuang attempted to kick Sora in the back but Sora back flipped over his leg before it made contact.

Sora leg swept Zhuang, causing him fall on his back, Zhuang got to his feet and did a few back flips to get away from Sora.

"You've improved Brother, but now I have to get serious." Said Zhuang drawing a sword

"Me too." Replied Sora drawing his Bo staff

They charged each other, Zhuang swung his sword but Sora jumped and kicked Zhuang in face causing him to stagger back. Sora swung his Bo staff but Zhuang ducked and kicked Sora in the chest causing him to go flying across the room and skid across the floor. He jumped to his feet and readied himself, Zhuang delivered numerous swings with his sword but Sora dodged them all. Sora landed many hits with his Bo staff then he jabbed into his brother's stomach and delivered a roundhouse kick to his face causing him to go flying into the wall. Zhuang got up and smirked at his younger brother, and then he wiped the blood from his lip and said "You've really improved Sora, it's not like the play fights we had as kids where I would always beat after 5 seconds."

"I've changed Zhuang." Said Sora

"You have indeed." Replied Zhuang

**(With Po and the others) **

They had been in the supply wagon for a while now; Po was beginning to wonder if they'd ever make it to the tower.

"How long till we reach the tower?" whispered Po

"It's on the other side of the land, be patient Panda." Shifu said trying to as quiet as possible, finally the wagon stopped and Po burst out of it.

"Don't worry Sora, we're here to help!" Po announced but realised that they weren't at the tower, they had stopped in the heart of The Outlands, and the tower was another mile or so. Then Po noticed that there were thousands of criminals staring at him.

"You idiot!" Crane, Monkey and Mantis in unison

"Get 'em!" yelled one of the criminals, and they all charged at the warriors.

**(With Sora and Zhuang)**

The Battle still raged on between the brothers, Sora had just been thrown into the wall; he fell to the ground and had to use his Bo staff to get up. Zhuang wasn't doing so well either, they were both exhausted but they didn't stop. Sora charged his brother and attempted to jump spin kick him but Zhuang blocked it with his sword, then Zhuang retaliated by roundhouse kicking Sora in jaw sending him flying across the room. Zhuang ran at his brother, jumped in the air and raised his sword then he brought it down on Sora but he blocked it with his Bo staff but the sword cut through his staff.

Zhuang then kicked Sora in the chest causing him to skid across the floor, Sora didn't know what to do, he was unarmed, and then he remembered a technique he and Po learned a while back. Sora ran over to his straw hat that had been knocked off during the battle, then he grabbed it and yelled "DISC OF DESTRUCTION!" then he launched it at his brother. Zhuang attempted block it with his sword but the spinning disc cut through the metal blade and left a large gash across the lion's chest, Zhuang groaned with pain.

Sora charged at Zhuang and jumped kicked him in the face, Zhuang managed to grab Sora's foot and slam him into the ground, Sora used his free foot to kick Zhuang in the face causing him to let go of his foot and stagger back. Sora charged at Zhuang and delivered numerous punches and kicks but Zhuang recovered soon enough to block and dodge them all. Zhuang then punched Sora in the face, then he landed a couple punches to his stomach, Sora grabbed Zhuang's head and kneed him in the face. Sora and Zhuang both sent their fists flying at each other.

**(With Po and the others) **

They had just finished beating down the last criminal.

"And that's the last of them." Said Po

"We wouldn't have to deal with them in the first place if you hadn't blown our cover." Said Monkey

"Well excuse me for being worried about my best friend." Replied Po

"Stop arguing you two, the owner of the supply wagon ran off during the fight, we'll drive the wagon the rest of the way." Said Shifu

"So who's the fasted out of us?" asked Crane, suddenly they all looked at Tigress, Tigress sighed, everyone threw the supplies off the wagon and hopped on, Tigress grabbed the cart and ran to the tower as fast as she could.

**(With Sora and Zhuang) **

Sora charged Zhuang and landed an uppercut to his jaw sending him flying across the room, he landed on his feet, unsheathed his claws and charged at Sora and pounced. Sora barely dodged the attack; he noticed a piece of his clothing attached to Zhuang's claw. He put his hand on his back, and then he looked at his hand and saw blood. Zhuang had cut his back, Sora glared at Zhuang and growled. Zhuang charged at Sora delivered a couple of kicks but Sora blocked them, then Sora punched Zhuang in the jaw causing him to stagger back. Zhuang recovered and charged at his brother; the lions were locked in combat.

"SORA!" called a familiar voice

Sora turned and saw Po and the others running towards them, but Zhuang kicked Sora to the side, ran to the corner of the room and forced his palm into a support beam causing it to break and fall to the ground, blocking the entrance. Sora ran over to Zhuang and jumped kicked him in the face knocking him out, Sora then ran over to the beam and he and Po tried to lift it but it was too heavy.

"What're you going to do? You can't get out." Said Po

"Don't worry about me, get outta here before more criminals show up." Said Sora

"No we're not leaving you here." Said Tigress

"Errrr guys…" said Crane, everyone looked and they saw more criminals standing at the end of the courtyard.

"Oh brother." Said Zhuang, Sora looked and saw that Zhuang was holding a lantern.

"What're you going to do with that?" asked Sora, Zhuang threw it at Sora but he jumped out of the way, but the lantern burst and the wooden floors began to catch fire.

"ARE YOU INSANE? YOU'LL KILL US BOTH!" said Sora

Zhuang took a fighting stance as did Sora and they charged each other again, Meanwhile Po and the others were fighting off criminals when they smelt something burning.

"Hey do you guys smell something burning?" asked Po, Viper looked at the building and went wide eyed "Look!" she pointed her tail at the tower and they all saw that it was starting to burn.

"Oh no….SORA!" yelled Po

Sora and his brother were locked in combat; Zhuang swiped his claws across Sora's chest leaving three long scars. Sora forced his palm into Zhuang's face sending him flying across the room, Zhuang got up and ran over to the stairs and went up them, and Sora turned around and saw that the fire was coming right at him. Sora ran over to the nearest support beam and began climbing, he punched a hole in the ceiling and found himself on the second floor, he looked down and saw that bottom floor had been consumed with fire and it was spreading upwards. Sora felt someone kick him to the wall and remembered he was battling Zhuang, he charged at Zhuang and delivered numerous punches and kicks but Zhuang dodged them all and roundhouse kicked Sora in the ribs sending him crashing into wall and he almost fell through the hole and into the flames but he dug his claws into wood and climbed out. Zhuang ran up the stairs again and Sora followed, when they reached the third floor Sora charged his brother and attempted to punch him but Zhuang dodged causing Sora to punch the wall, the force of his punch was so powerful that it caused the wall on fourth, fifth and sixth to shake knocking over the lanterns and causing more fires.

Sora and Zhuang didn't stop, they continued to battle despite the current situation, after a few minutes of fighting they heard a loud noise above, they both looked up and saw that ceiling was collapsing, they both jumped out of the way and the falling ceiling caused the floor the break, Sora and Zhuang climbed up the wall and on to the next floor. There wasn't much space to fight because of the large hole in the floor, they charged each other, Zhuang attempted to jump kick Sora but he dodged, they charged each again but then the floor began to shake. Then it collapsed, both brothers fell onto the floor below, Sora landed on the floor but Zhuang was about to fall through the hole but he grabbed onto to Sora's arm.

"Sora…help me!" said Zhuang

"Why should I?" asked Sora

"Because I'm your brother." Said Zhuang, he was right despite everything he's still Sora's brother, Sora regretfully grabbed onto Zhuang's arm and began to pull him up. Zhuang grabbed onto the floor with his free hand and grinned he forced his arm out of Sora's grip and swung his claws at his brother's throat but Sora moved his head back and Zhuang missed, the bit of flooring he was holding onto couldn't support his weight and it broke off, Zhuang fell screaming into the inferno, Sora could only as his brother was consumed by the flames, the sound of Zhuang's final roar erupted from the fire. Zhuang was finally dead, but it wasn't over just yet, Sora still had to get out of the burning tower. He got up and looked for a way out but he could see one then he heard cracking, he looked up and the entire tower collapsed. Po and the others had just finished fighting the criminals when it happened.

"Sora?...SORA!" Po kept calling his name but there was answer, tears weld up in Po's eyes and he dropped to his knees

"Oh Sora…" everyone went silent for moment "Look!" said Tigress pointed at the remains of the tower, they saw a figure in the smoke, they couldn't tell who it was. But when he stepped out of the smoke joy built in their bodies. It was Sora, everyone minus Tigress and Shifu ran over and hugged.

"Ow ow let go!" said Sora

"Did that hurt?" asked Mantis

"Yeah." Replied Sora

"Well it serves you right for running off on your own." Said Monkey

"We were so worried about you." Said Viper

"You ever do that again and you'll wish you went down with the tower." Said Po

"Ok ok I'm sorry." Said Sora

"Ahhh we can't stay mad at you." Said Mantis, Sora chuckled.

"Thanks, now come on let's go home." Said Sora

After Sora received medical attention, several beatings from Po and the others for making them worry and more medical attention they all made their back to The Valley of Peace. It took days of travelling but they finally arrived, Sora decided to stop off at Mai's first. When he arrived he knocked on the door, a few seconds later Mai answered, her face lit up when she saw him.

"Sora? You're ok!" she threw her arms around his neck and buried her head into his mane, they stayed like that for a couple of minutes then they shared a passionate kiss that seemed to have lasted forever. They finally broke for air.

"Hey if you're not doing anything tonight do wanna…..I don't know got get something to eat?" asked Sora in sheepish tone, Mai smiled widely "Ok, 7 O'clock, don't keep me waiting." She said, Sora chuckled "I'll see tonight then." Said Sora, Mai smiled and closed the door and Sora made his way to The Jade Palace, he had been through a lot, he may of lost one life but he has a new, better one. And Sora could finally live in peace….for now.


End file.
